Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President Patrick Harker.
Federal Reserve FOMC members vote on where to set the nation's key interest rates and their public engagements are often used to drop subtle clues regarding future monetary policy.

May, 25 00:30

★

National CPI

National CPI

Country:

Date:

May, 25 00:30

Importance:

Low

Previous:

0.5% y/y

Forecast:

0.5% y/y

Actual:

-

Period:

May

National Consumer Price Index (CPI) is the key gauge for inflation in Japan. Simply put, inflation reflects a decline in the purchasing power of the Yen, where each Yen buys fewer goods and services. In terms of measuring inflation, CPI is the most obvious way to quantify changes in purchasing power. The report tracks changes in the price of a basket of goods and services that a typical Japanese household might purchase. An increase in the index indicates that it takes more Yen to purchase this same set of basic consumer items.

Markets will typically pay more attention to "CPI excluding Fresh Food," because it excludes volatile food prices that can distort overall CPI. The headline figure for CPI is the percentage change in the index on a month to month or year to year basis.

As the most important indicator of inflation, CPI figures are closely followed by the Bank of Japan. Rising Consumer Prices may prompt the BoJ to raise interest rates in order to manage inflation and slow economic growth. Higher interest rates make holding the Yen more attractive to foreign investors, and this higher level of demand will place upward pressure on the value of the Yen.

May, 25 00:30

★

National CPI ex Fresh Food

National CPI ex Fresh Food

Country:

Date:

May, 25 00:30

Importance:

Low

Previous:

0.6% y/y

Forecast:

0.6% y/y

Actual:

-

Period:

May

National Consumer Price Index (CPI) is the key gauge for inflation in Japan. Simply put, inflation reflects a decline in the purchasing power of the Yen, where each Yen buys fewer goods and services. In terms of measuring inflation, CPI is the most obvious way to quantify changes in purchasing power. The report tracks changes in the price of a basket of goods and services that a typical Japanese household might purchase. An increase in the index indicates that it takes more Yen to purchase this same set of basic consumer items.

Markets will typically pay more attention to "CPI excluding Fresh Food," because it excludes volatile food prices that can distort overall CPI. The headline figure for CPI is the percentage change in the index on a month to month or year to year basis.

As the most important indicator of inflation, CPI figures are closely followed by the Bank of Japan. Rising Consumer Prices may prompt the BoJ to raise interest rates in order to manage inflation and slow economic growth. Higher interest rates make holding the Yen more attractive to foreign investors, and this higher level of demand will place upward pressure on the value of the Yen.

May, 25 00:30

★

Tokyo CPI ex Fresh Food & Energy

Tokyo CPI ex Fresh Food & Energy

Country:

Date:

May, 25 00:30

Importance:

Low

Previous:

0.3% y/y

Forecast:

0.3% y/y

Actual:

-

Period:

May

An indicator of inflation experienced by consumers living in Tokyo, excluding such volatile item as fresh food.

May, 25 09:00

★★

Ifo Business Climate Index

Ifo Business Climate Index

Country:

Date:

May, 25 09:00

Importance:

Medium

Previous:

102.1

Forecast:

102.0

Actual:

-

Period:

May

The Ifo Business Climate Index is a closely followed leading indicator for economic activity in Germany prepared by the Ifo Institute for Economic Research in Munich. It is based on ca. 7,000 monthly survey responses of firms in manufacturing, construction, wholesaling and retailing. The firms are asked to give their assessments of the current business situation and their expectations for the next six months. They can characterise their situation as "good", "satisfactorily" or "poor" and their business expectations for the next six months as "more favourable", "unchanged" or "more unfavourable". The replies are weighted according to the importance of the industry and aggregated. The balance value of the current business situation is the difference of the percentages of the responses "good" and "poor", the balance value of the expectations is the difference of the percentages of the responses "more favourable" and "more unfavourable". The business climate is a mean of the balances of the business situation and the expectations.

May, 25 09:00

★★

Ifo Current Assessment

Ifo Current Assessment

Country:

Date:

May, 25 09:00

Importance:

Medium

Previous:

105.7

Forecast:

105.5

Actual:

-

Period:

May

One of the country's key business sentiment surveys (Ifo - Information and Forschung Survey). The survey is conducted monthly, querying German firms on the current German business climate as well as their expectations for the next six months. As the largest economy in the Eurozone, Germany is responsible for approximately a quarter of the total Eurozone GDP.

Consequently, the German Ifo is a significant economic health indicator for the Eurozone as a whole. Positive readings bode well for the economy, suggesting increased consumer spending and economic growth. Conversely, low Ifo readings may be indicative of economic slowdown.

The index uses 100 as a centerline between positive and negative outlooks; the further the value is from 100 the stronger the sentiment. The survey presents two equally weighted sub-indices: Current Assessment and Business Expectations.

Ifo Current Assessment
Measures current German business conditions, without considering future expectations.

May, 25 09:00

★★

IFO - Expectations

IFO - Expectations

Country:

Date:

May, 25 09:00

Importance:

Medium

Previous:

98.7

Forecast:

98.5

Actual:

-

Period:

May

One of the country's key business sentiment surveys (Ifo - Information and Forschung Survey). The survey is conducted monthly, querying German firms on the current German business climate as well as their expectations for the next six months. As the largest economy in the Eurozone, Germany is responsible for approximately a quarter of the total Eurozone GDP. Consequently, the German Ifo is a significant economic health indicator for the Eurozone as a whole. Positive readings bode well for the economy, suggesting increased consumer spending and economic growth. Conversely, low Ifo readings may be indicative of economic slowdown.

The index uses 100 as a centerline between positive and negative outlooks; the further the value is from 100 the stronger the sentiment. The survey presents two equally weighted sub-indices: Current Assessment and Business Expectations.

Ifo Expectations
Based on firms' expectations for the next six months, where firms rate the future outlook as better, same, or worse.

May, 25 09:30

★★

GDP

GDP

Country:

Date:

May, 25 09:30

Importance:

Medium

Previous:

0.1% q/q; 1.2% y/y

Forecast:

0.1% q/q; 1.2% y/y

Actual:

-

Period:

1 quarter

The Gross Domestic Product is a comprehensive measure of an overall production and consumption of goods and services. GDP serves as one of the primary measures of overall economic well-being. While GDP announcements generally conform to expectations, unanticipated changes in this metric can move markets.

Robust GDP growth signals a heightened level of economic activity and often a higher demand for the domestic currency. At the same time, economic expansion raises concerns about inflationary pressures which may lead monetary authorities to increase interest rates. Thus better than expected GDP figures are generally bullish for the Euro, while negative readings are generally bearish.

Technically, Gross Domestic Product is calculated in the following way:

French GDP figures, officially called Quarterly National Accounts, are released quarterly. The headline figures are annualized percentage changes in real and nominal GDP.

May, 25 09:30

★★

Business Investment

Business Investment

Country:

Date:

May, 25 09:30

Importance:

Medium

Previous:

0.3% q/q; 2.6% y/y

Forecast:

0.2% q/q; 2.4% y/y

Actual:

-

Period:

1 quarter

The change in capital expenditures made by private firms. Businesses only invest when they are optimistic about future economic growth and expect a profitable return on their investments. Because of this, increased capital expenditures usually reflect a higher level of consumer demand that induces companies to expand their productive capacity. Current Business Investment usually allow for higher GDP in the future. For these reasons Business Investment may lead economic growth.

The headline number is the percentage change in investment from the previous quarter.

May, 25 09:30

★

High Street Lending

High Street Lending

Country:

Date:

May, 25 09:30

Importance:

Low

Previous:

37.6K

Forecast:

37.8K

Actual:

-

Period:

Apr

Number of new mortgages approved for home purchase by High Street banks during the previous month.
High Street banks make up around 65% of total UK mortgage lending.
It's a leading indicator of housing market demand – most home purchases are financed with a mortgage, so it provides an excellent gauge of how many qualified buyers are entering the market.

May, 25 09:30

★

Index of Services

Index of Services

Country:

Date:

May, 25 09:30

Importance:

Low

Previous:

0.4% 3m/3m; -0.2% m/m

Forecast:

0.3% 3m/3m; 0.1% m/m

Actual:

-

Period:

Mar

The index tracks activity in services sector.

May, 25 13:00

★

RBA Assistant Governor Michele Bullock Speaks

RBA Assistant Governor Michele Bullock Speaks

Country:

Date:

May, 25 13:00

Importance:

Low

Previous:

-

Forecast:

-

Actual:

-

Period:

-

Michele Bullock is the Assistant Governor (Financial System) at the Reserve Bank of Australia.
Michele Bullock was appointed to her current position in October 2016. In this role she is responsible for the Bank's work on financial stability, including production of the twice-yearly Financial Stability Review, as well as the Bank's oversight of the payments system. She is a member of the Bank's senior policy committees, Deputy Chair of the Payments System Board, member of Chief Executive Women (CEW) and executive sponsor of the Bank's employee resource group for accessibility.